Man Accused of Killing Stranger With Rock Found Mentally Incompetent to Face Murder Charge

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A Tacoma man who killed someone with a large chunk of asphalt has been deemed mentally incompetent to face charges for now.

David Lee Glenn, 39, was charged with attempted first-degree murder for the April 5 attack on Aaron Brown II.

Brown, 42, died at a hospital five days after Glenn allegedly struck him in the head with asphalt outside a laundromat in the 8700 block of South Hosmer Street.

He died of encephalopath, or brain damage, with blunt force head injury being the secondary cause, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office.

Despite the death, Pierce County prosecutors have not upgraded the original charges against Glenn.

A psychological evaluation done in June found Glenn has an unspecified bipolar disorder with psychotic features, as well as suffering from stimulant use disorder and cannabis use disorder, according to court documents.

The doctor who analyzed him said Glenn is unable to understand the charges against him, the court proceedings and cannot assist in his defense.

On the day of the assault, a passerby spotted Brown lying on the ground as Glenn stood above, repeatedly throwing a big rock at his head, records say.

Glenn fled on foot after the passerby yelled for him to stop.

Police responded and found Brown unconscious and bleeding profusely.

Glenn was found hiding in some blackberry bushes nearby and taken into custody.

He said, "Yeah, I stomped him," while being arrested, according to charging papers.

Glenn told detectives he attacked Brown because he committed crimes against his family, but provided a different name and admitted he didn't know what the man he was searching for looked like.



Police believe it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

"Apparently, assuming the story to be true, the defendant went out looking for the person and came across (the victim), who looked like the person they described," prosecutors wrote in charging papers.

Brown and Glenn did not appear to know each other.

Brown struggled with addiction for more than 20 years and was robbed of the opportunity to get clean, his mother said, adding that she is a widow and Brown was her only child.

She cannot condone violence and "those who do should be removed from society," she wrote in a victim impact statement.

Glenn has six prior felony convictions and "complained that he was being treated unfairly" when told he could face a murder charge in Brown's death, according to the mental health evaluation.

"He felt the act of changing the charge was impermissible and was indignant about it," records say.

During the evaluation, Glenn denied having mental health problems and acted guarded, sarcastic and suspicious.

His mom said he became "a different person" in August 2019 after visiting a friend in California, acting bizarrely and once visiting the home of his three children with an ax.

Glenn appeared to be paranoid and was "like a time bomb ticking away, getting worse and worse," his mother told officials.

He was civilly detained in March, about a month before attacking Brown, and was found to have a psychotic disorder with delusions.

A competency hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8.

Prosecutors said they will review the charges and possibly upgrade them if Glenn is found mentally competent to stand trial.